


Music Box

by Badassium1970



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Bard! Dan, Caves, Dragon Borns, Dragon Hybrids, Dragons, Fluff, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythical Setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 11:57:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12108222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Badassium1970/pseuds/Badassium1970
Summary: Ross is a dragon hybrid, meaning that he can turn into a dragon and has some dragon features when he's in his human form. Humans turned against dragons a while ago, meaning Ross has spent his life in hiding. It gets boring, but he has one thing that keeps him sane; music boxes. One day, however, he ends up picking up a human with a beautiful voice, mistaking him for a music box.





	Music Box

Ross was bored. He was always bored, but until now he’d found ways to entertain himself, but there were only so many times you could set things on fire, or transform while jerking off to see what it feels like before things got boring again. Plus cleaning up the amount of cum that comes out of a dragon dick is the worst.

Being a dragon hybrid sounds interesting, and Ross knew it probably was, years ago when dragons and dragon borns weren’t hunted and people treated them with respect. He wasn’t even sure what happened, there was no great war, maybe a few attacks every now and again but nothing that hadn’t been settled. Humans and dragons had lived in peace. Now dragons had been forced into hiding and he was stuck in this cave, alone. His family were forced to evacuate their old home, and it was safer for them to all go to different place as they would be more discreet. Ross missed them, it wasn’t like they could write. All he could do was hope that they were still alive.

Ross wasn’t even sure he could really call what dragons and dragon hybrids have a life. Hiding in fear for the rest of their days, maybe death was better. Ross longed to actually be able to do things with his life, he even found himself longing to be human. He looked human for the most part, but he could never pass for one, not with the scales surrounding his chin and around his right eye, the fact that his teeth, while not as sharp as they were in his dragon form, were sharper than any humans, and his eyes would sometimes become a fiery orange, mainly when he was angry or extremely pleased.

No, he could never fit in with the humans, and therefore rarely left his cave. At least humans tended to stay away from caves, especially if their village was small. Ross guessed that was because there were fewer meatheads stupid enough to try and take on a dragon.

He did get lonely though, but he had one main hobby that didn’t erase his boredom, but it calmed him.

Ross collected music boxes.

It may sound weird. Normally dragons collected gold or gems, but Ross liked music boxes. They reminded him of his father who was a musician, or well, had been before the whole world decided to turn against dragons. He had never really learnt how to play an instrument, never having the patients or the desire to. Maybe it would be a good hobby to take up now that he was so alone, but Ross wasn’t going to take up something that didn’t interest him much just because he was bored. Normally he would try to use his claws to draw on the cave wall, or in the dirt, while listening to a winded up music box, stopping every now and again to wind it up again. He could spend hours doing so, but some days he wished, no he longed for something more.

Getting now music boxes was tough, and although he didn’t want to, he had to steal them in the night, when the village people were asleep. He never stole them from families, only from stores. It was tough, but luckily, he could control how much he transformed and would transform to a point where his skin turned to scales, and his dark blue scales hid him in the night. He then used his breath to weaken to lock, trying not to burn it, before going into the shop that sold random knickknacks. They didn’t always have music boxes, but whenever they did Ross would take it, knowing that he would care about it more than any of these humans ever would.

Ross’ collection wasn’t by any means big, unlike most dragon’s treasures. Dragon hybrids usually didn’t have big treasures, since they didn’t have such a strong instinct to have a treasure in the first place. Ross wondered if having to live like this caused his desire to collect something to grow. He didn’t mind really, having a horde of music boxes didn’t seem like a bad thing, and they weren’t taking up too much room in his cave.

One day when Ross went out looking for a music box, he came back with something different, much different. A human.

Dragons have terrible eyesight, and rely on hearing more than their sight, and the same goes for dragon hybrids. Ross would hide in the shadows and listen for someone playing with a music box, and would be able to locate where it was, which he would then remember and go and find it when the shop closed and he was sure it was safe. Today he swore he heard one. The most beautiful music box he had ever heard, and after he heard the owner lock the shop and knew that there would be no threats he did as he usually did, breaking the new lock, but to his surprise the door opened on him. While using his fiery breath he was unable to hear someone inside the store moving.

Ross didn’t know what to do. He knew that the person in front of him was scared, he could hear their heart beating. Before he could even think he was fully transforming, grabbing the person, whom he guessed was male, and then he flew back to his cave. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to kill this person. Ross had never killed anyone before, but he couldn’t risk getting hurt.

He knew it was stupid to take someone to his cave, considering it was his only safe place, but for that same reason of it being safe, Ross knew it was the only place he could go. Ross was glad that the man wasn’t screaming, though he found it strange. He could feel the man’s pulse so he knew that the man wasn’t dead. So why wasn’t he screaming? Ross remembered the first time he flew and he was terrified, and this man wasn’t even a dragon, yet he sounded like he was in awe.

When Ross got back to his cave he carefully put the man down, before transforming back into his human form. His sight was slightly better in this form, but not by much, he could still barely make out the man standing in front of him.

“I-I…That...I…” the man stuttered in confusion, awe, and maybe a bit of fear. It was hard to know what he was feeling right now, there was an overwhelming amount of emotions racing through his head. Ross was still afraid that this man was going to freak out and reveal where he lived by screaming or running back to the village and revealing that the cave actually did have a dragon.

“I’m-I’m sorry, I didn’t-I got scared, please don’t, please don’t tell anyone I’m here. Please.” Ross could feel tears filling his eyes as he realised how much danger he was in right now. He had read about dragons who had been killed while they were searching for gold, their greed getting the better of them. If only he had listened more carefully, or not gone to get a music box today.

The man looked at Ross in confusion.

“Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you man, and I won’t tell anyone. I didn’t… I didn’t even know that there were still dragons around these parts, let alone dragon hybrids. I thought they had all moved away.”

Ross couldn’t quite make out the man in front of him, but he could see the man smile. His voice was kind and true. The sense of danger had left Ross. Maybe he shouldn’t let his guard down, but there was something about this man. His voice… was he the music box? The music box was a human? Ross didn’t know that humans could sound so beautiful.

“O-okay, I’m still sorry about taking you. I had gone to get a music box… I um… I collect them.” Ross could feel himself blushing, and he wondered if the man would judge him for collecting something so childish.

“Ah, well I was actually staying in the store in hopes to catch the thief who was stealing music boxes, but it appears you caught me instead. The names Daniel by the way,” the man, Daniel, bowed, and Ross felt his blush deepen in colour.

“Again, I’m so sorry. My name is Ross,” Ross was struck with nerves. Daniel was so nice, Ross had never been shown kindness outside of his family. He also couldn’t deny that he found Daniel attractive, he could just about make out what he looked like, but it was his personality that was causing Ross to quickly fall.

Daniel laughed, and Ross looked at him in confusion.

“Sorry, I just- well I thought that dragons would have I dunno, wilder names.”

Ross knew that most dragons didn’t have normal names, but dragon hybrids usually had standard names, at least that was what he had been told. He hadn’t had the chance to meet many other dragon borns but he had been told stories.

“We used to be able to interact with humans without the fear of being attacked,” Ross explained, “We were treated as equal with them, and therefore we were like them, and raised alongside them. I guess we were given human names instead of dragon ones since we were around humans more.” Ross could only guess the reasons, he still didn’t understand why things changed. It upset him to know that he could have had a better life. Daniel also seemed to be upset by the fact that times had changed.

“I’d always been told as a child to fear dragons. I believed it for a while and was going to be a dragon hunter,” Daniel shook his head and let out a sad laugh.

“I was ridiculed for it, but I still went in search of a dragon. I don’t know how far I went but I knew I was lost. The weather got bad, and I was in a dangerous area. I almost fell off a cliff of all things.”  
Ross' eyes widened, and even though he knew that Daniel made it out alive he was still afraid for him.

“I was hanging on for dear life, so afraid. I thought my life was going to end them, but then I felt something beneath me. A dragon.” Daniel still sounded as if he was in awe of the situation.

“A dragon saved me, and brought me as close to the village as possible. I knew then that dragons weren’t bad and I didn’t want to hunt them. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. My family were glad that I was still alive but I could tell they were disappointed that I had failed,” Daniel hung his head, feeling shame, but in his heart, he knew he had done what was right.

“My sister was still young then, and we had little money. Me slaying a dragon would have gotten us a large sum of money, but I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t. I became a bard instead, because I love music, but people don’t want to hire me. To the rest of the village, I’m just a failed dragon hunter,” Daniel let out a long sigh. He knew he did what was right, but it meant his family went through some hardships. Luckily his sister had become a good hunter, of woodland animals, not dragons, and she also made clothing. His family had left the village a while ago, not going too far. Daniel didn’t go with them. He wanted to prove himself to the villagers. Call him stubborn but he wanted to be a bard in that village, at least for a while. Daniel also didn’t want to be a burden on his family. He would go back to them when he could provide for himself.

Ross felt sorrow for Daniel. He didn’t deserve to be ridiculed, and he wasn’t a failure. Daniel was better than any of them. He could see what they couldn’t. That dragons weren’t evil, and didn’t deserve to be forced into hiding. The fact that Daniel was a bard, or at least trying to be, made him even more suspicious as to whether he was what Ross believed to be a music box.

“Were… were you singing earlier?”

Daniel smiled, feeling bashful. It took him a while to get comfortable with his voice, especially since it seemed like no one wanted to listen to him.

“Um, yeah… how did you know?”

“I was checking the area, making sure there was a music box. Your voice… it’s-it’s… well beautiful. I never thought a human could sound like that.”

Daniel was taken aback at how nice and sincere Ross was. It was also sad to think that Ross probably didn’t have the best view of humans, but at the same time, Daniel understood. Dragons and dragon hybrids had been cast out by humans. Daniel tried to see the best in people, and for the most part, he did, but he’d understood why Ross wouldn’t. He thought about trying to show Ross that people weren’t that bad, but then remembered that Ross wouldn’t be accepted at all.

“Anyway… um, y’know you can leave if you want. I’m not gonna force you so stay here. Just-just don’t tell anyone I’m here.” Ross felt sad that Daniel was going to leave, but it was for the best. He had a life outside of this cave. It wouldn’t be fair to keep him here just because having a companion would be nice.

However, Daniel found himself not wanting to leave either. Going back to such cruel people, people who didn’t appreciate him and were racist against dragon kind, well it didn’t sit right with him anymore. Why was he trying to prove himself to these people? They weren’t worth it. As much as Daniel tried to see the best in people, that didn’t mean he should be a door matt.

“You know what Ross. I don’t want to leave, not yet, if it’s okay with you. I’d like to get to know you.”

Ross wanted nothing more than Daniel to stay, and he wanted to get to know Daniel more. They sat and spoke for hours, growing closer and closer. It scared Ross how quickly he was falling for this man, and he was afraid that Daniel would not feel the same way. He feared that this wasn’t real and he was just lonely. What if Daniel was a delusion?

“Ross, hey man, are you okay?” Daniel reached out to comfort Ross but at the same time Ross let out a nervous breath, a fiery nervous breath. Hissing in pain Daniel brought his hand back. The burn wasn’t too bad, but it hurt. Ross’ fear grew tenfold and he understood why dragon kind were normally lonely creatures now. He wondered if something like this happened before. An accident, but it was taken as a threat. He hoped Daniel didn’t see it as a threat, he would never hurt him.

“Ross, Ross, come on, calm down. I know you didn’t mean to. It’ll be fine. I can just cool it by the river.” Daniel tried to calm Ross, but it didn’t seem to work. He didn’t want to leave until Ross had calmed down, so he did the only thing he could think of that might calm Ross down. He sung.

It was an old song his mother had taught him, about a unicorn, the last one. Daniel wasn’t sure if unicorns were real or not, as a child, he had always wished they were, he wanted to see one. As time went on he found himself accepting that they had all been killed, but now that he had met a dragon born when he thought they had all fled, he didn’t know what to think. He wanted unicorns to be real, they were his favourite creature, although they might have to share that space with dragons.

Daniel’s singing did help to calm Ross. He’d never really thought about it but Ross guessed another reason he collected music boxes was that they helped calm him down. Daniel was better than any music box though, and his voice was even more beautiful than when he heard it before.

When he finished the song, Daniel looked at Ross sheepishly, expecting a negative review, like he often did. Then again, he did like to mess with the villagers by singing about dicks and the like, but that wasn’t the point. Ross was still in awe, but he could tell that he needed to say something.

“Thank you, Danny, …uh…” Ross didn’t know if they were close enough for nicknames yet, or if Daniel would even be okay with being called anything other than that. He felt himself growing nervous again, but tried to reign it in. Being around Daniel was calming, but it was equally unnerving due to Ross becoming so flustered.

“Danny, huh, people don’t call me that a lot, I like it when you say it.”

Ross swore he was going to have a permanent blush by the end of this.

“I also like when you blush, it’s cute.” Daniel found himself equally bashful. He had only met Ross for a few hours, but he couldn’t deny that he felt something, something more than friendship. Before he could think any more about that the pain in his hand spiked and he couldn’t help but wince, causing Ross to do the same.

“Th-there's a lake a few minutes away, the water is clean, it should help. I’m sorry.” Ross felt terrible for hurting Danny, but at least he knew a place where he could clean and cool his wound. He knew about that spot due to the number of times he had accidentally burnt himself, not that he was going to admit that to anyone.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. Um, can you show me the way to the lake? It’s kind of dark outside and uh…” Daniel wasn’t afraid of the dark, well maybe a little bit, but it was more the fact that he was in a forest in the dark.

“Need a big, strong dragon to help you?” Ross joked, standing with his hands on his hips and his chest puffed out. Danny laughed, and sounded just as beautiful as he did when singing.

“Yeah, but there aren’t any of them here, so you’ll have to do.”

Ross acted offended, which lasted all of a second. He knew he didn’t look strong or fierce, especially in his human form, but he didn’t really care. Ross didn’t want to look scary or intimidating.

They walked through the forest for a couple of minutes before coming to the lake. It was beautiful, the area surrounded by large trees and delicate looking flowers. The moonlight shone through the trees, casting down into the water, which reflected it in a way that looked simply magical. Daniel still liked to believe that there was magic in the world, and being here made him truly believe that magic existed.

Ross knelt down by the river, beckoning Danny to sit next to him. When Danny sat, Ross carefully took Danny’s hand burnt in his, and brought it down to the water, running the water over it. Danny was surprised by the intimacy, but it wasn’t unwelcome. It was soothing, being in such a serene environment with Ross caring for him like this. He didn’t want it to end, but far too soon Ross raised Daniel’s hand out of the water, giving it an inspection.

“There will probably be some scaring, but there are some plants that can help with that, other than that I can’t really say anything other than again, I’m sorry.” Ross’ eyes were on the water refusing to look at Danny.

Danny brought his dry hand to Ross’ cheek and gently tilted Ross’ face, so that he would look at him.

“Ross, honestly, it’s fine. I understand it was an accident,” Daniel chuckled, which confused Ross.

“It might be hard to explain to the village,” Danny sighed.

“If I ever go back.”

Now it was Danny’s turn to look away from Ross. He knew that what was insinuating was clear, and maybe he had read Ross’ signals wrong, but this was one of the best days he had ever had since he was a child, and he didn’t want to return to the village. Danny wanted to stay with Ross.

Ross fell dumb-struck for a moment, not wanting to believe that Danny was saying what he thought he was saying.

“You-you want to stay… stay with me?” Ross really hoped that he wasn’t making assumptions here.

Daniel met Ross’ eyes again, and nodded.

“I do. It’s been so long since I’ve felt such care or acceptance, and I can’t help but think there’s something… something more. I don’t want to leave and risk losing whatever that more could be.” Danny wondered if he had said too much, especially when Ross was silent again.

“Danny, I… I feel the same way, but I can’t ask you to leave everything behind.”

Daniel shook his head.

“There’s not much to leave behind. My parents are in another village so I may go and visit them, but I doubt they would get suspicious, and they know a dragon saved me, so if you ever wanted to meet them I’m sure they would be cool with it,” Daniel was speaking a mile a minute, not wanting to leave this behind.

“And I live in a shitty rundown hut, honestly your cave is a lot nicer, and I barely get any work so that’s not an iss…”

Ross cut Danny off with a kiss. It was sweet that Daniel was making such a big case to move in with Ross, and Ross knew that he wasn’t going to be able to convince Danny not to. Daniel fell into the kiss with ease, once he got over the initial surprise.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Danny smiled when they broke from the kiss.

“In every sense of the word,” Ross smiled back, leaning in for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr: 
> 
> Fic blog: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/shipgrumps-equals-hashtag-boner 
> 
> Art blog: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/red-retro-rose


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